OUTCAST: VOL 1: A DARKNESS SURROUNDS HIM – graphic novel

From the creator of The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman, comes a new horror series, Outcast. And it’s nice to see that Walking Dead wasn’t a fluke … Kirkman understands horror.

Outcast follows Kyle Barnes, a man whose life has been surrounded by demons and demonic possession. While he, himself, doesn’t appear to be possessed, those around him, those closest to him, have been possessed – his wife, and his mother both have suffered possession. Kyle’s ‘talent’ if it can be considered such, is that he seems pretty good at spotting the demons and getting rid of them. He’s none too gentle about it, and when he teams up (very reluctantly) with a local priest, his rough means are a source of contention.

It looks as though there won’t be any shortage of possessed locals for Kyle to come to grips with (pun intended), but Kyle is clearly haunted by his own demon, a very different sort of possession, and we’re not quite sure yet what this is.

This is clearly the beginning of a longer story, something that you might expect when reading comic books or graphic novels. And in the hands of a good story-teller, as Kirkman is, you get the sense that he knows exactly where the story is headed and what the journey will look like. I don’t always get this sense from graphic novels, so when I do, it’s delightful and it’s much easier to sit back and trust the creator.

The art works well for this story. It is dark and angular which helps to create an eerie atmosphere.

This is not a book that you can pick up and read and get a complete story. This is one that you have to go in with the understanding that this is setting up something much bigger, which is still to come, but from this start, it definitely appears worth getting in to.

Looking for a good book? The graphic novel, Outcast, Vol. 1, is setting up an intriguing series about demonic possession and the man who combats it, from the creator of The Walking Dead.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.